Friday, June 17, 2011

Brand Communication

In communication theory we have a 6 step model to refer to for how communication works

As you can see we have 6 steps outlined in this chart. The first stage is the source.

Source

The source is the source of the message, the company or person behind what is being said.

One important key to how your customer recieves your communication is how trustworthy it percieves the source.

The more credibility and authority a source has in the customers mind, the more positively they will recieve the message.

The more your customers trust your brand the less skeptical they will be when recieving your messages and the easier it is to be judged favorably.

You want to provide proof and reasons why your company will fulfill all its promises.

Message

The next step in our communication process is the message itself. A message is not just what you put in an advertisement or in your emails.

Messages are anything and everything that a customer sees as related to your brand. From the time it takes for the delivery company to how long your customer is on hold for at customer service.

You must constantly be on the alert for what types of messages are being sent by your organization. A failure to do so could result in far lower ROI. One negative message hurt hundreds of positive brand messages.

Pay attention to identifying messages being sent which are inconsistent with your brand. Everything a company does and even what it fails to do is a message, you must manage these messages to maintain a strong brand.

Also think about the types of messages which are being sent by the image and appearance of your product. Think about the message the imagery of the IPhone sends.

You also want to pay attention to the brand messages sent by the four P's of marketing:

Think about the message sent when you raise or lower the price of your product.

Price can be used to make your product stand out from the competition.

We have found that the lower the price of a product, the more average it is percieved by consumers.

Pricing must be integrated with your brnd messages. When trying to determine your pricing, keep in mind what kind of messages you are sending.

Furthermore we see differences in brand messages based off of where your product is displayed.

If you take a piece of art from the sidewalk, put it in a gold frame and place it in an expensive gallery - the same piece of artwork now has a dramatically different message its sending.

Keep in mind what you are associating your products with when you choose the place to show your products.

Channel

Finally remember that in your marketing promotions, it is not just what you say in the promotion - but the way you present that message that affects its perception.

Just as you can show the same piece of artwork in a high end gallery in a beautiful frame or on the sidewalk - so too can you display your messages in ways that strengthen or weaken your customers perception of your brand.

From which magazines you choose to put your ads in to the layout and design, everything will affect your brands overall message, not just the advertisement itself.

Next in our first drawing we have the channels. Which channel you choose affects the message. Putting your franchise offer in a small biz op magazine sends a different message than putting it in Forbes.

Remember you are associating your brand with whatever channel you use.

Next, lets talk about noise going on in the environment. All of your marketing messages are subjected to distractions and influences on your customer.

Its hard at times for your customers to maintain attention to your brand messages. They are being bombarded by messages. So under these circumstances its important to keep your brand messages very consistent and easy to remember.

You should also pay attention to what your competitors are saying right now, where, and how they are saying it.

Monitoring this will help keep you up-to-date on marketplace influences that could be changing your customers interpretation of your brand messages.

Reciever

When considering how your reader will respond to your message, you must take their past experiences into account. Past experiences and evaluations make up for future evaluations.

Its important to understand your market and how they will recieve your message. Will they be open to it? Will they be skeptical? What frame of mind does your reader recieve your brand in?

Also how your message is recieved is influenced by what is going on with them in the moment. If they are thirsty, an ad for Coca Cola may get much more attention than if they just finished a meal.

One approach you can take to help ensure your message is understood clearly is through the use of the three T's.

Tell them something
Tell them what you told them
Tell them that you told them

What this basically means is you give your reciever the same message in multiple ways. This helps to reduce the confusion created in recieving an advertising message.

Another way marketers strengthen the force and clarity of their messages is through multiple channels and an integrated approach to marketing where all messages are consistently communicating the same idea.

This helps to get through to the prospect.

When crafting your messages, its helpful to apply the KISS rule. Keep It Simple, Salesman! You want to keep your messages, clear, simple, easy to remember, and persuasive to your target audience.
It is also important to ensure your message is setting clear expectations for what your reciever can expect from the product or service. Unrealistic expectations created the messages decoded by the reciever weakens brand relationships.

Tracking and managing customer perceptions is one of the most important keys to successful brand management.

Feedback

Feedback is consumer and marketplace response. It tells us if the messages sent have been effective and if they have been recieved clearly.

When we see an increase in sales, and customer interaction, we see positive feedback for the brand. We also find delayed feedback where sales build over time as a result of brand awareness.

Its important to ensure your messages are being recieved clearly and that they are resulting in the desired responses from your target audience. This is the key to building successful marketing campaigns.